# Dear Marvel and DC, please shorten the origin stories in your movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083 "2019-09-12T01:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/1 "2019-09-12T01:49:17Z")
A quick recap of how Joe Blow became Mr Awesome after a headlong dive into his universe is all that’s needed, even when showing it to noobs. Save the hour(s)-long Origin Issue for later in the series, or never, unlike X Men Origins: Wolverine. Origin stories are boring. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/2 "2019-09-12T01:57:26Z")
That was the best thing about Captain Marvel I thought , they wrapped the Origin story up as the plot of the movie basically. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/3 "2019-09-12T02:02:25Z")
Uncle Ben has suffered enough. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/4 "2019-09-12T02:32:03Z")
I think the common problem isn’t the origin; it’s the pre-origin. The stuff with Peter Parker being bitten by a spider, discovering his powers, using his powers for selfish reasons, having Uncle Ben get killed, and deciding to become a hero - that can be an interesting story. But the stuff before he gets bitten by the story is just the typical life of a high school student. We don’t need to spend all that time establishing who Peter’s family members and schoolmates are. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/5 "2019-09-12T02:38:31Z")
That’s one of the reasons I loved 2008’s _The Incredible Hulk_: the origin story was told by the opening credits. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/6 "2019-09-12T02:47:48Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That’s one of the reasons I loved 2008’s _The Incredible Hulk_: the origin story was told by the opening credits. That, and the origin story had already been done in _Hulk_ in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/7 "2019-09-12T02:49:11Z")
Which was a totally unrelated movie. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/8 "2019-09-12T02:56:09Z")
Tim Burton’s \*Batman \*starts with Batman already active and known, albeit recently started. It has an origin story told briefly in flashback. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/9 "2019-09-12T02:59:05Z")
Depends on how popular the character(s) is/are. They did what you suggest with their with their Spider-Man and DCEU Batman movies and that worked fine, but everybody already knows their origins. But somebody like Guardians of the Galaxy, or even Captain America when his first movie hit and they didn’t. And lot of people, like myself, often find heroes origin stories to be the best stories told for some characters. At the very least they give you the characters motivations, and a full movie origin story can give you a lot of insight into a character’s head. So, I can kind of agree, if the audience already knows the story, no origin story or a minimal recap. But if they don’t, full origin movie. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/10 "2019-09-12T03:09:34Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Tim Burton’s \*Batman \*starts with Batman already active and known, albeit recently started. It has an origin story told briefly in flashback. I admit, I kinda liked how Knox (Robert Wuhl) did some basic research into Bruce Wayne’s history and told Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) that he suspected Wayne was a very screwed-up individual for having witnessed his parents being murdered. It’s notable that Knox was trying to get Vale to be interested in him instead of Wayne, and that Knox didn’t imagine that Wayne was expressing his trauma in the form of chiropteran-themed vigilantism, but really, how much detail does a story like that need? One minor element I found annoying in Michael Keaton’s performance as Wayne is that he occasionally played Wayne as a comical character (not the irresponsible-playboy cover that Christian Bale would much later perform, but just silly for no reason) and there was virtually no indication of the physical training he’d have to be constantly doing to maintain his Batmantics. Incidentally, I find the Jesus-imagery that keeps sneaking into various cinematic portrayals of the Superman origin to be especially irritating. He has far more in common with Moses in the bulrushes than Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/11 "2019-09-12T13:15:17Z")
> [@Asylum](#): > > Depends on how popular the character(s) is/are. They did what you suggest with their with their Spider-Man and DCEU Batman movies and that worked fine, but everybody already knows their origins. But somebody like Guardians of the Galaxy, or even Captain America when his first movie hit and they didn’t. > > And lot of people, like myself, often find heroes origin stories to be the best stories told for some characters. At the very least they give you the characters motivations, and a full movie origin story can give you a lot of insight into a character’s head. > > So, I can kind of agree, if the audience already knows the story, no origin story or a minimal recap. But if they don’t, full origin movie. Yeah, this. In the MCU, with a single exception, every second movie was a step down from the origin movie. The only one that got better was Captain America:The Winter Soldier, and only because that’s one of the top 3 MCU movies anyway. A well done origin story should be and usually is a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/12 "2019-09-12T14:37:39Z")
Origins we _never_ should have to sit through again: Batman-We all know he got bitten by a radioactive bat. Superman-Magic ring from the Superman Corps Spiderman-Spiders killed his parents in a dark alley after they saw “Kiss Of The Spider Woman”. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/13 "2019-09-12T14:48:26Z")
Yeah, it’s not the origins I think you’re complaining about. It’s the thrice-told tales that we already know. For example, essentially the first two seasons of Jessica Jones were her origin story. And it was great. Ditto some of the others. But telling Spider-man or Superman again seems pointless unless you really come up with a new spin on it. Best origin of Superman was in ‘All Star Superman’. Four panels. Eight Words. Doomed Planet Desperate Scientists Last Son Kindly Couple Almost like Morrison was saying, “Can we get on with it, now?” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/14 "2019-09-12T14:59:50Z")
From a writers perspective, other than the origin story what drama is there? A super hero is super, they are not easily injured or killed. Their interpersonal conflicts between superheros are as interesting as a Real World episode. They are dumb, but the origin story is the only actual story, the rest is T&A and explosions. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/15 "2019-09-12T15:21:23Z")
Marvel’s been pretty good at keeping it a mix. Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Captain America, and Ant-Man all got “pure” origin story movies. Black Panther, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Thor all started with them already heroes. GotG is about them becoming a team but isn’t an origin for any of the characters. Captain Marvel starts with her already having powers but then uses flashbacks to tell her origin. Curious to see how they’ll handle all the new properties being introduced with Phase 4. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/16 "2019-09-12T16:08:27Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > From a writers perspective, other than the origin story what drama is there? A super hero is super, they are not easily injured or killed. Their interpersonal conflicts between superheros are as interesting as a Real World episode. > > They are dumb, but the origin story is the only actual story, the rest is T&A and explosions. So you were the guy in the theater watching _Endgame_ and saying “It’s okay but it’s not as good as _Ant-Man_.” ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/17 "2019-09-12T16:45:05Z")
We are all sick of the origin stories we’ve seen a million times already and those don’t need to be told again. But the Guardians of the Galaxy “origin” was their incredibly entertaining first movie, ditto Ant Man, and I had zero idea how Black Panther, Dr Strange or Captain Marvel got their powers until i saw their movies. We don’t need to see Batman’s parents get killed, or the Fantastic 4’s doomed trip to outer space, hell we got an entire multi season tv show about Superman’s origin. When something like Moon Knight or Shang chi come out i certainly hope we get a decent origin story because I’ve never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/18 "2019-09-12T16:52:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So you were the guy in the theater watching _Endgame_ and saying “It’s okay but it’s not as good as _Ant-Man_.” As a movie, as a story, of course Ant-Man was better. For Endgame any drama and character development was done in the ten movies that came before the finale. And finale is all Endgame was. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/19 "2019-09-12T16:52:56Z")
Beg to differ on The FF. The movies have fucked up their origin over and over again(and in the process messed with the origin of Victor Von Doom, to boot). ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083/20 "2019-09-12T17:25:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Origins we _never_ should have to sit through again: > Batman-We all know he got bitten by a radioactive bat. > Superman-Magic ring from the Superman Corps > Spiderman-Spiders killed his parents in a dark alley after they saw “Kiss Of The Spider Woman”. Are you being Czarcastic? 😉 Yep, I think origin stories can be done away with for the most part, namely for the well-known heroes. Marvel even said a few years ago that they want to do away with origin stories. Sometimes they’re needed, but I think the movie would be much better if they can somehow wrap the origin into the story without the entire movie being about the origin itself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-marvel-and-dc-please-shorten-the-origin-stories-in-your-movies/840083.md?page=2)